12 Drivers’ championships, 8 Constructors championships, 183 race wins and yet, after all of their celebrated successes McLaren have begrudgingly found themselves being relegated to P10 in the 2023 Constructors’ standings. The turbulent nature of Formula 1 makes it so that a team can be on top of the world one day, and fade into absolute obscurity the next. Every team has fallen victim to the sports’ ruthless nature at one point or another whether it be Williams building up an unprecedented legacy in the 80-90s, only for them to become synonymous with the back of the grid in the decades to come or even it being as recent as Mercedes falling from grace off the back of their 8 straight Constructors’ championships. The rise and fall is inevitable, but what has been so intriguing in the curious case of McLaren is just how quickly and how far they have plummeted down the order.

Prior to the introduction of these new 2022 regulations, the team were on track to re-assert their dominance within the sport and cement their legacy in the modern era of F1. The task awaiting Zak Brown in 2016 would’ve been daunting to anyone who understood the full scope of what needed to be done to get McLaren back on track. In 2014 McLaren entered into their dreaded Honda era and we all know how that turned out, this new collaboration provided McLaren with a one-way ticket to the bottom of the grid as they finished their 2015 season in P9, not to dissimilar from where they find themselves currently. Under Brown’s leadership the team soon found themselves on the rise and by 2020 had managed to hold onto P3, beating out Ferrari. With one of the best driver pairings on the grid and having eradicated the inconsistencies that were keeping them stagnant in the midfield, it looked as though a new dawn was on the horizon for McLaren and a return to their championship winning days was not as far away as it had initially seemed. But just when things were going well, Formula 1 struck again. The addition of Daniel Ricciardo no doubt began to pull them back down the grid and things were only looking to get worse as McLaren failed to successfully adapt to the new 2022 regulations bringing us to the current day in which they’ve found themselves sitting in P10.

Ending the Honda partner ship in 2017 2017 was one of many valuable decisions that Zak Brown oversaw during his rebuild of McLaren, the reconstruction of the team had a significant impact in the first 4 years since Brown had joined, but under his leadership this accelerated progress has been undone just as quickly. Now there is never usually one sole decision that can provide a complete explanation for a team’s drastic downfall and when looking back at McLaren over the past years there have been a few subtle warning signs that have gradually chipped away at the momentum they once had. The first substantial change to hit the team was the departure on Carlos Sainz at the end of 2020 just as they were beginning to reach their peak. This no doubt unsteadied the ship and in a bid to find an adequate replacement Daniel Ricciardo was drafted in. I think we all know how Ricciardo’s time at McLaren went unfortunately and this surely had to feel like a punch to the gut as they were still extremely competitive in 2021 and they had to sit back and watch as they essentially competed with one hand tied behind their back. 2022 wouldn’t get any better for the team as Andreas Seidl announced his withdrawal from the McLaren project, this bombshell was especially newsworthy due to the central role that Seidl played in the resurrection of a well renowned team such as McLaren. At this point the last thing McLaren would have wanted was any more problems, but that’s exactly what they got, with an underperforming team, a team principal and driver on their way out McLaren also confirmed that their car wouldn’t receive the full benefits of their upcoming wind tunnel until 2025. As the troubles add up for McLaren, what does the future hold in store for them?

In light of the pessimistic take above, the team have still garnered enough respect and notoriety throughout their time in F1 to retain one of the best drivers on the grid in Lando Norris and also poach Alpine’s former reserve driver, Oscar Piastri, who happens to be one of the most exciting prospects that F1 has seen in the past decade. But exactly how long can McLaren live off of their name when they are consistently underperforming despite having all of the resources in place to succeed? The driver pairing that McLaren have on the grid is easily one of the most exciting and the potential that they have could absolutely deliver championships to McLaren in the future. My personal opinion is that I don’t see this changing for a while no matter how badly McLaren perform and this falls down to one overarching reason. There is currently no availability in any of the top teams and this works in McLaren’s favour as it is the limiting factor that is ensuring that their drivers remain at the team, for now at least. However, when this luck runs out, McLaren may have the rug pulled from underneath them as it’s not difficult to imagine that the top teams would go after both of their drivers if the chance arises.

The buzz surrounding McLaren has now fizzled out and they have nothing to show for the instrumental changes that transformed the team in the first few years of Brown’s leadership. With the recent news of McLaren deciding to part ways with their executive technical director, James Key, they are demonstrating that they won’t shy away from committing themselves to important decisions that could reshape the entire structure of the team, for better or for worse. I thought this announcement was particularly significant as it looks as though McLaren are heading towards a complete shake up at the top as Key is now the second key figure to depart the team within the year. We will have to wait and see how this plays out for McLaren’s future, will they be able to reach the heights of their former glory or will their hopes continue to dissipate, confining them to the back of the grid?

 

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Where is Zak Brown leading McLaren?

12 Drivers’ championships, 8 Constructors championships, 183
race wins and yet, after all of their celebrated successes McLaren have
begrudgingly found themselves being relegated to P10 in the 2023 Constructors’
standings. The turbulent nature of Formula 1 makes it so that a team can be on
top of the world one day, and fade into absolute obscurity the next. Every team
has fallen victim to the sports’ ruthless nature at one point or another
whether it be Williams building up an unprecedented legacy in the 80-90s, only
for them to become synonymous with the back of the grid in the decades to come
or even it being as recent as Mercedes falling from grace off the back of their
8 straight Constructors’ championships. The rise and fall is inevitable, but
what has been so intriguing in the curious case of McLaren is just how quickly
and how far they have plummeted down the order.

Prior
to the introduction of these new 2022 regulations, the team were on track to
re-assert their dominance within the sport and cement their legacy in the
modern era of formula 1. The task awaiting Zak Brown in 2016 would’ve been
daunting to anyone who understood the full scope of what needed to be done to
dig McLaren out of the hole that they had dropped down into. In 2014 McLaren
entered into their dreaded Honda era and we all know how that turned out, this
new collaboration provided McLaren with a one-way ticket to the bottom of the
grid as they finished their 2015 season in P9, not to dissimilar from where
they find themselves currently. Under Brown’s leadership the team soon found
themselves on the rise and by 2020 had managed to hold onto P3, beating out
Ferrari. With one of the best driver pairings on the grid and having eradicated
the inconsistencies that were keeping them stagnant in the midfield, it looked
as though a new dawn was on the horizon for McLaren and a return to their
championship winning days was not as far away as it had initially seemed. But
just when things were going well, Formula 1 struck again. The addition of Daniel
Ricciardo no doubt began to pull them back down the grid and things were only
looking to get worse as McLaren failed to successfully adapt to the new 2022
regulations bringing us to the current day in which they’ve found themselves
sitting in P10.

Ending
the Honda partnership in 2017 was one of many valuable decisions that Zak Brown
oversaw during his rebuild of McLaren, the reconstruction of the team had a
significant impact in the first 4 years since Brown had joined, but under his
leadership this accelerated progress has been undone just as quickly. Now there
is never usually one sole decision that can provide a complete explanation for
a team’s drastic downfall and when looking back at McLaren over the past years
there have been a few subtle warning signs that have gradually chipped away at
the momentum they once had. The first substantial change to hit the team was
the departure on Carlos Sainz at the end of 2020 just as they were beginning to
reach their peak. This no doubt unsteadied the ship and in a bid to find an
adequate replacement Daniel Ricciardo was drafted in. I think we all know how
Ricciardo’s time at McLaren went unfortunately and this surely had to feel like
a punch to the gut as they were still extremely competitive in 2021 and they had
to sit back and watch as they essentially competed with one hand tied behind
their back. 2022 wouldn’t get any better for the team as Andreas Seidl
announced his withdrawal from the McLaren project, this bombshell was
especially newsworthy due to the central role that Seidl played in the
resurrection of a well renowned team such as McLaren. At this point the last
thing McLaren would have wanted was any more problems, but that’s exactly what
they got, with an underperforming team, a team principal and driver on their way
out McLaren also confirmed that their car wouldn’t receive the full benefits of
their upcoming wind tunnel until 2025. As the troubles add up for McLaren, what
does the future hold in store for them?

In
light of the pessimistic take above, the team have still garnered enough
respect and notoriety throughout their time in F1 to retain one of the best
drivers on the grid in Lando Norris and also poach Alpine’s former reserve
driver, Oscar Piastri, who happens to be one of the most exciting prospects
that F1 has seen in the past decade. But exactly how long can McLaren live off
of their name when they are consistently underperforming despite having all of
the resources in place to succeed? The driver pairing that McLaren have on the
grid is easily one of the most exciting and the potential that they have could
absolutely deliver championships to McLaren in the future, my personal opinion
is that I don’t see this changing for a while no matter how badly McLaren
perform and this falls down to one overarching reason. There is currently no
availability in any of the top teams and this works in McLaren’s favour as it
is the limiting factor that is ensuring that their drivers remain at the team,
for now at least. However, when this luck runs out, McLaren may have the rug
pulled from underneath them as it’s not difficult to imagine that the top teams
would go after both of their drivers if the chance arises.

The
buzz surrounding McLaren has now fizzled out and the morale of the team looks
to be in pieces, Zak Brown has managed to breathe new life into this team once
before but will he be able to replicate his previous success and rebuild this
team from the ground up or will their hopes of climbing back up the grid continue
to dissipate and confining them to the back of the grid for the foreseeable
future?